Nocturne Op.48 No. 1 in C minor

It is difficult to speak in absolutes about art music, especially since beauty is often subjective.

This piece probably evokes a certain fascination in you; it is nonetheless very musically demanding.

@ Gilda

I strongly agree with you. It is not the nocturne that captivates me most among Chopin's (twenty years ago, it was) but it seems to me that within the nocturnes it is unique: that austere, grandiose character - both intimate and epic at the same time - of the initial part gives me that wide breath of melodic arches as found in certain Bachian choral-preludes for the organ.

Then it is wonderful how Chopin spreads over it that veil of soft light that is the central part, and how bit by bit he reconquers it in the anguished tumult that leads it to crash at the end on that A-flat seventh chord (which manages to sound more dissonant than it actually is) and finally vanish into the key of C minor.

it is certainly among Chopin's most beautiful. I couldn't say anything else. Perhaps expanding the circle of discussion to interpretations. Rubinstein (my beloved), in the recording I possess of this piece, sounds a bit too measured for my taste. My favorite interpretation - today - is this one by Valentina Igoschina

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MzrAGZHDvo

bye!

Luca

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Thank you Luca for your response.....I agree with everything you said, and regarding Valentina Igoschina's interpretation we are in perfect agreement.....I find it wonderful. I also think it is unique among the nocturnes. Think... I read that Chopin was very meticulous with his students and it was very difficult to please him: he wanted a question on sol-do (measures 2-3) and an answer on do (measure 4) and made them repeat until he got what he wanted.....I would really like to know if it is very difficult to study because listening to it, it seems very complex both from a technical and an interpretative point of view.

From an interpretative point of view, it should be difficult for anyone

(but it is that 'beautiful difficulty' that we seek by approaching Beauty... otherwise, what are we playing for?!)

From a technical point of view, it obviously depends on the pianist's abilities. The first part is easy to read (and even interpret, come on) even for a mediocre amateur like me. Then that central part, and especially the final part, go far beyond my abilities.

So I place myself among those who sit down to listen to it.

bye!

Luca

thanks for the answer.....I think it is difficult anyway. Let's wait for the opinion of some expert pianists....

I hadn't seen it

Lento (a marching rhythm is felt, pulsed by the bass, upon which a broad melody is superimposed), Poco più lento (harmonized chorale with arpeggiated chords… it seems to prefigure Franck) and "Doppio movimento"; rather dense and compact writing (probably influenced by Liszt, even though he was still a bit green during the period this piece was written).

In summary, it opens and closes in a minor key with a central section in a major key, which is very innovative and from which Scriabin and Rachmaninoff will draw inspiration.

....I am resuming this discussion after reading with great interest the things you have said, which I fully share. I have been working on it these last few days. Initially, Igoschina's interpretation was the one that fascinated me most because of that very soft, suspended and meditative atmosphere she managed to create in the first part, but since I started reading it, I no longer quite identify with it. I believe that, however, while maintaining that sense of soft austerity and suspension, one must make the melodic line "sing" more... which is clearly inspired by Bellinian bel canto. I feel the need to bring it more into prominence. I would like to find the right expressive balance between the vocal line and the bass line, which contribute expressively without being too invasive....

This interpretation is also interesting, nonetheless...

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I believe that this nocturne is truly different from all the others. As if the melody, the song, had so much respect for the overall harmony that it only emerges with the utmost "reserve." Understated. I don't imagine anything fully sung. A "distant" melody, subdued, evanescent and mysterious. Only in the reprise, at the end of the penultimate page, does the theme emerge with a certain "conviction." This is "authorized" and emphasized by the different harmonization of the bass. The "chorale" is played very softly, with the absolute calm and tranquility of the pacing of all the notes of the side chords and... arpeggiated (sung in the outer notes of the right hand). In the double movement, nothing "agitated," starting quite softly. The last group of sixteenth notes preceding the final chords is a recitative

...I will surely have to work on it for quite a while to find "the right measure"...I will try to give a "clear but not brazen diction" to the singing...

I correct myself: at the end of the first page.

P.S. Nancy, you are good, you will give a great performance!!!!!

Thanks Paolo!....I'll have to study it for quite a while, also because it requires a lot of self-control and a "very relaxed little hand"...